Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel has returned to Broadway in a production NPR calls, "The best musical of the season, by far."
Three-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien's "sumptuous revival is a high-water mark of classic American musical theater" (Time Out). Starring Tony nominee Joshua Henry, Tony winner Jessie Mueller and four-time Grammy winner Renee Fleming, with choreography by New York City Ballet's Justin Peck, "this ravishing Carousel tingles with the rapture of life in all its contradictions" (The New York Times).
Set in a small New England factory town, Carousel describes the tragic romance between a troubled carnival barker and the woman who gives up everything for him. With a score full of "the theater's most beautiful and enduring songs" (Variety), brought to life through "choreography that would send Rodgers & Hammerstein themselves into waves of happy shivers" (The Washington Post), this incandescently staged story of passion, loss and redemption is "one of the most moving experiences in all of musical theater" (New York Magazine).
"God is in Carousel," raves The Chicago Tribune. "It's the greatest musical ever written." Don't miss this ecstatically acclaimed production of one of musical theater's rarest treasures. "What a gift to have it back on Broadway" (The Hollywood Reporter).
But despite there being so very much here to love - truly - for the show to work at its peak prowess, you have to see what she first thinks she sees in Billy, the man who persuades her to give up so much. Here, that is difficult. Some of the issue comes from a lack of connection between these two gifted lead performers, but it mostly flows from Henry's yet-unmet need to embrace his character's belief that he could do better. That is why he sings the great 'Soliloquy,' which Henry renders in bravura fashion, but that lacks even a flash of optimism.
A remarkable aspect of O'Brien's production - and of Henry's staggering, soulful performance, which is this revival's smoldering core - is that even in our current moment of heightened attention toward mistreatment of women, in which a hot-tempered man like Billy might seem an automatic villain, there's a tormented helplessness to this doomed, rootless transient that makes you understand Julie's surrender. Even when she swallows her shame and makes excuses for his reprehensible behavior; it's almost as if in choosing to love him she has chosen to be an outsider like him too.
1945 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1949 | Broadway |
Return Engagement [Broadway] Broadway |
1950 | West End |
London Production West End |
1954 | Broadway |
Unknown Broadway |
1957 | Broadway |
City Center Revival Broadway |
1965 | Broadway |
Lincoln Center Revival Broadway |
1985 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
1992 | West End |
Royal National Theatre Production West End |
1994 | Broadway |
Broadway Production Broadway |
1996 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
2001 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
2002 | Off-Broadway |
New York Concert Off-Broadway |
2002 | London Fringe |
London Concert London Fringe |
2008 | West End |
London Revival West End |
2010 | Los Angeles |
Reprise! Production Los Angeles |
2015 | Chicago |
Lyric Opera of Chicago Production Chicago |
2017 | West End |
West End Revival West End |
2018 | Broadway |
2018 Broadway Revival Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Joshua Henry |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Jack O'Brien |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Alexander Gemignani |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Lindsay Mendez |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Fight Choreography | Steve Rankin |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical | Brian MacDevitt |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Jonathan Tunick |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | Carousel |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design for a Musical | Santo Loquasto |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Scott Lehrer |
2018 | Drama Desk Awards | The LaDuca Award for Outstanding Choreography | Justin Peck |
2018 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Joshua Henry |
2018 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jessie Mueller |
2018 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Mean Girls |
2018 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Carousel |
2018 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Joshua Henry |
2018 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreographer | Justin Peck |
2018 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Alexander Gemignani |
2018 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Lindsay Mendez |
2018 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Jonathan Tunick |
2018 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | Carousel |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Justin Peck |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Musical | Ann Roth |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Brian MacDevitt |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Jonathan Tunick |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Alexander Gemignani |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Joshua Henry |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Lindsay Mendez |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Renée Fleming |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Carousel |
2018 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Scott Lehrer |
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